Using particle data to effect an unrelated objects material
Using dynamic paint
Result:


How to:

UV unwrap your &quot;receiver&quot; object (I'm using a cylinder)


On that object, enable (from the Physics panel): Dynamic Paint &gt; Canvas &gt; Add Canvas. Make its type &quot;Image Sequence&quot;, and its initial color completely black. Enable &quot;Dissolve&quot; and use a very short time for dissolve, like 5.

Select the Emitter object, enable: Dynamic Paint &gt; Canvas &gt; Add Brush. Make the brush fully white. Change the &quot;Source&quot; to &quot;Particle system&quot; and select the correct particle system. Increase the brush radius.

Go back to the target object, select the correct &quot;UVMap&quot; under &quot;Dynamic Paint Output&quot;, and bake the Image Sequence.

Create a material for the target that has an emission shader modulated by the Dynamic Paint paintmap (for the Image Texture, remember to open all the image files together with Ctrl+Shift+Select, and &quot;Detect Sequences&quot; activated):